The Open Thread/Daily Merengue is a place where you can discuss anything and everything related to football. Feel free to discuss the topics presented here, or start your very own discussions! The Open thread will be posted every day by one of the mods you’d totally watch El Clasico with: Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Kung_Fu_Zizou (AKA KFZ), Juninho and, of course... yours truly.

Would You?

So, TL-DR, Rodrygo did this interview with Sportsman’s Club, which included rapid-fire questions. One of these questions was “Which player would you like Real Madrid to sign?”, to which our starlet answered “Neymar”. Now, it’s fairly normal for a Brazilian youngster to say this and it’s also clear that Neymar is no longer at the peak of his powers. Yet, my fellow cultured Madridistas, we can certainly entertain an idea, can we not? What say you? Would you even consider a signing like this?

How will Benz’s Absence Affect our Chances in El Clasico?

My first thought on this was pretty darn negative, not gonna lie. When Benzema is absent, our play becomes (even) more predictable, as it is generally funneled even more through Vinicius on the left. Hopefully we will be spared another Simic (MTG reference here) Carlo Modric-False-9-like experiment. Yet, I’m exactly over the moon with the idea of Rodrygo at CF in this game either. Then again, Alvaro might also sit this one out with an injury of his own. What’s your take on this?